The baseline, in numbers
Federal guidelines for adults call for at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity a week, plus muscle-strengthening work on two days. Moderate means brisk enough that you can talk but could not sing. Thirty minutes of fast walking on five days meets the first requirement. The large drop in health risk comes from moving out of the sedentary group into the somewhat active one, so the first two hours a week are worth more than any hours after them.
Two strength sessions
Build each session from five basic movements, and choose one exercise for each.
- A squat, such as a goblet squat or a leg press, trains the legs and hips.
- A hinge, such as a deadlift variation or a hip thrust, trains the back of the body.
- A push, such as a push-up, a bench press or an overhead press, trains the chest, shoulders and triceps.
- A pull, such as a row or a pull-down, trains the back and biceps.
- A loaded carry or a plank trains the trunk.
Do two or three sets of eight to twelve repetitions, resting a minute or two between sets. The right weight leaves the last two repetitions hard but clean. When you can complete twelve on every set, add the smallest increment available, usually five pounds. That rule, called progressive overload, is the whole mechanism of getting stronger.
Form and injury
Learn the movements with light weight before you load them. Three or four sessions with a certified trainer at the start is money well spent. Begin each exercise with one or two lighter warm-up sets. Muscle soreness that peaks a day or two after a new workout is normal and fades as you adapt. Sharp pain, pain in a joint, or pain that persists into the following week is a signal to stop that movement and have it looked at. Anyone with a heart condition, chest pain on exertion or a long sedentary history should talk to a doctor before starting hard training.
Keeping it going
Put sessions in your calendar as fixed appointments. Keep a simple log of weights and repetitions, because visible progress is the best motivation there is. Missing a session is ordinary. The working rule is never to miss twice in a row, and a shortened twenty-minute session counts.
Tip On days when you cannot face the workout, commit to ten minutes only. You will usually finish once you have started, and if you do not, ten minutes still kept the habit alive.
